


the mundane

by glitch_writes



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Doki doki at first sight, M/M, With A Twist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-02
Packaged: 2019-02-09 17:54:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12893544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitch_writes/pseuds/glitch_writes
Summary: "He’d found the hard way that all that he’d considered remarkable was unremarkable to someone else, one way or another. The canals of Venice were someone else’s boring route to school. The peacocks draping their magnificent tails across the streets they stood on were someone else’s obnoxious roadblocks.His insane was their mundane."-A jaded barista meets a remarkable man - and his remarkable pet.





	the mundane

**Author's Note:**

> For the [AuIdeas Advent Calendar event](http://auideas.tumblr.com/post/167810401497/our-third-annual-auideas-advent-calendar-2017), [Dec 1st prompt](http://auideas.tumblr.com/post/168091016187/aac-2k17-december-1st):
> 
> "Steam VS Smoke AU - Working in a coffee shop can have its…strangeness…but it has to be said that nothing topped that one person who Character A could’ve sworn was hiding a tiny dragon under the lapel of their jacket."

The insane had become the mundane.

“I want an iced caramel latte, whole milk, five pumps of vanilla, four sugars, caramel drizzle…”

Ennoshita had worked in an office before this. It paid… well, it paid a lot. Great benefits, paid vacation, free laptop and car at the company’s expense - the works.

But he craved adventure. Excitement. Wanted his life to be a grand tale, wanted people to associate his name with stories of far-off lands, wanted remarkable experiences to be as common and frequent as breaks for tea.

“Mocha frappe, with caramel- a lot of caramel, like, a lot- yeah at least seven pumps. Oh, yeah, and a lot of butterscotch…”

He took off one day with nothing but a backpack stuffed with a few necessities, his favorite shirts, and his lucky underwear. He was going to do it. He was going to take off, to make the remarkable common.

He came back two weeks later with an empty wallet, two tales about falling into canals in Venice, and bronchitis.

“I need you to fill half of the cup with ice, then add the vanilla and stir before adding the cream, then stir again…”

He’d found the hard way that all that he’d considered remarkable was unremarkable to someone else, one way or another. The canals of Venice were someone else’s boring route to school. The peacocks draping their magnificent tails across the streets they stood on were someone else’s obnoxious roadblocks. 

His insane was their mundane.

“I saw this thing about a secret menu…”

As it turned out, ‘running off to other countries on a whim’ didn’t look great on his resume, no matter how he phrased it. Only the coffee shop and McDonalds called him back, and well, he’d heard horror stories about working at the latter. He didn’t have the mental strength to go through what those heroes faced daily.

Well. He’d wanted excitement. 

“Nine. Nine shots. Nine espresso shots.”

The coffee shop certainly didn’t lack for it.

Ennoshita reached under the counter, feeling around until his hands met what he needed. “I’ll need you to sign one of these liability statements saying that we’re not responsible for caffeine-related health issues,” he recited monotonously as he spun the clipboard toward the customer. The stack of pages clipped to it was growing thin; they’d need to order more soon.

The insane had become his mundane.

“Can I get, uhhhhhh…” The customer after the jittery one was probably handsome - he certainly had the qualities that would normally catch Ennoshita’s attention, from the piercing eyes to the jaw that could cut glass - but Ennoshita was too annoyed to consider it. The guy had all that time to look at the menu while he was waiting in line, and he was one of  _ those _ assholes that leaned against the counter. 

Ennoshita had half a mind to swat the guy’s elbows off the counter. “Sir, could you not…” 

His voice and thoughts alike drifted away when the man met his gaze.

Alright, his eyes were pretty, Ennoshita had to admit. Captivating, even - Ennoshita had a hard time looking away, hadn’t even considered looking away to be an option.

And it was pretty cute how the guy gawked back, too, mouth left agape and striking eyes searching Ennoshita’s. 

It wasn’t just the eyes. Or that fine jaw. Or those tempting lips. Or the broad shoulders. Or how nice said shoulders looked in that leather jacket-

A muffled scratching noise dragged Ennoshita back to earth. “Um,” Ennoshita cleared his throat, tearing his gaze away to look at the order screen instead of awkwardly staring at a stranger again. “Do you know what you-” 

The scratching sound caught his attention again. It was faint, but after that hellish week of babysitting his mom’s chihuahua, Ennoshita could recognize the sound of claws on leather anywhere. 

His gaze flickered to the stranger’s chest in time to catch it - something in the jacket was moving, wriggling until it’s tiny head popped into view.

Ennoshita hesitated; the line was growing as they stood there, he didn't have time for smalltak, and the woman behind the handsome stranger was doing that passive-aggressive ‘if I have to wait another minute I’m going to start complaining’ cough - but the question slipped out of his mouth. “Is that a lizard?”

“Huh? Is what a-” His gaze wandered to follow Ennoshita’s stare down to the reptile’s head - black scales with matching horns, a tip of tongue poking out of its mouth, and wide, scarlet eyes blinking up at Ennoshita. “You can see her?!”

“Well, yeah, she's-"

The ‘lizard’ yawned, a puff of flame no larger than a candle’s shooting from its mouth and singeing the lapel. 

“-A dragon?” Ennoshita squeaked, barely audible over the rude woman's third impatient ‘cough’. 

“She’s the cutest, right?!” A childlike glee danced in the man’s voice and eyes alike as he pulled at his lapel to give her more space. 

The dragon hesitated to start, peeking her head around with her wide, curious eyes before she stepped out, tiny claws making tiny clicks on the counter. She spread out her wings - only a few inches long each - and puffed out her chest proudly, showing off to Ennoshita.

When she yawned again, another puff to rival a lit match, and left the tip of her tongue poking out again, Ennoshita had to agree - she really was the cutest. “How did you- How did you find her?”

“Oh, they’re all over the place where I’m from. Can’t go five feet without seeing a leg or a tail stickin’ out of a bush.” The man held out his finger, and the dragon licked at it like a mother cat bathing her kitten. “When I saw this sweetheart, I knew I had to take her with me.”

He’d said it so casually - tiny dragons were all over where he was from. No big deal. 

The remarkable was his unremarkable. The insane was his mundane. 

“Doesn’t that...” Ennoshita trailed off, unsure of how to ask, unsure of why he was asking. His tongue felt heavy, like it was made of wet cotton. “If you see them a lot, doesn’t that… make them boring?”

The man cocked his head to the side, confusion set on his brow. “I mean, I guess? But just cause there’s a lot of ‘em doesn’t make her any less special.”

“The mundane… can be special?”

His smile was as beautiful as his eyes. “Sure. Just cause something’s around a lot doesn’t make it bad.”

“Even doing the same things every day? In the same place?”

The man absently pet the dragon’s snout as he searched Ennoshita’s eyes. “Yeah. I think…” he trailed off, his gaze falling back to the dragon nuzzling his finger. “Something doesn’t have to be unique to be special to you, ya know?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I…” Ennoshita thought about the customers, the usuals that drank the same drinks constantly but still loved them enough to come back every day. He thought about his lucky underwear that he wore the moment he pulled it out of the dryer each week. He thought about how countless customers walked in everyday, but there was still one that Ennoshita found special, a man like any other in a cafe like any other, carrying a conversation like any other as his dragon nibbled on his thumb.

Well, he certainly wasn’t a man like any other. Not to Ennoshita. 

But he was mundane to someone else out in the world, and that didn’t change the flutter in Ennoshita’s heart when their eyes met again.

_ “Ahem.” _ The impatient woman shot Ennoshita a glare.

He paid her no mind, instead holding out his finger for the dragon to sniff. “Can nobody else see her?”

“Nope! Only, uh…” The man scratched the back of his neck, the pink spreading across his cheeks setting sending a pitter-patter to Ennoshita’s heart again. “Only special people can see her.”

“Special how?”

“We can, uh… We can talk about it when you’re on break or something?”

Ennoshita glanced from the impatient woman tapping crossing her arms, to the poorly dressed teen behind her tapping his foot, to the evergrowing line threatening to reach the door. “I was just closing up the cafe for lunch right now.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've got a writing blog now! [glitch-writes.tumblr.com](https://glitch-writes.tumblr.com/)


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